Defensive HR Is Not Transactional: It Focuses On Delineating Patterns
MONTEREY, CA—July 22, 2022—REDUCING EXPOSURE WITH EMPLOYEES is the most crucial role of Human Resources yet often the most overlooked. Had some of the companies in the news over the last few years practiced defensive tactics, those multi-million dollar awards would not have occurred. Human Resources needs to be much more strategic in its approach to risk management. This article is about the most basic steps in creating a defensive HR department.
Like so many other disciplines in business, Human Resources succeeds when it collects and analyzes the right information. Unfortunately, many HR systems focus on things like pay rate, hours worked (even for salaried employees) with minimal notes on interactions. In fact, in many HR systems, the notes relating to interactions are an after-thought by the software developers. The truth is that poorly-handled and documented interactions are the primary source of litigation. For example, capturing Harvey Weinstein’s bad behaviors in a database, his career in sexual harassment would have been short.
When I consult, the first thing that I do is to set up a tracker in which to log interactions with employees. I can look up a person’s name and see when I met with them, what the issue was and how it was resolved. I have used this tracker to resolve Labor Commissioner complaints, harassment issues and many other issues. My tracker is simplistic, but effective. However, for companies particularly as startups, I located an application that is optimal for managing employee relations. It is a case management tool. It can be configured so that interactions can be categorized, reported on and used to identify problems early.
Using case management, Human Resources can spot trends early before they become problematic. For example, if a manager loses employees regularly, there is an issue. With a case management resource, Human Resources captures employee complaints for analysis. How effective the software is on revealing problematic trends is dependent upon how it is configured.
Case Management must be configured so that there are categories relating to the nature of the complaint and its circumstances so that the real issue can be discovered. For example, if the software has codes relating to the manner in which conversations have occurred as well as describing a complaint, it will be more effective. For example, if an employee states that they feel unappreciated or shamed by their manager, it could be the communications style of that person. Sarcasm, while amusing with friends, doesn’t work well in office settings. Employees feel shame if a manager makes fun of their errors. This is especially true when the interaction takes place in front of other employees.
Had the studio employing Harvey Weinstein had a tool like this, his sexual harassment career would have been shortened considerably. To learn more about setting up a tracker or case management software, contact Electrify HR.
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